ISAIAH (Salvation of Jehovah), the son of Amoz (not the prophet of that name), prophesied about " Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah." His tribe and family are uncertain, but he is believed to have been of the seed-royal of Judah. Under Uzziah and Jotham religion declined, luxury increased; under Ahaz idolatry was rampant, and the Temple closed. Isaiah warned and reproved in vain, till Hezekiah listened to his voice, and made him his adviser. He is said to have been sawn asunder in the reign of Manasseh, qn whose accession, however, he must have been nearly ninety years of age.

The first verse seems to be the heading of the whole book, which consists of a series of visions, followed by a few miscellaneous prophecies and historical facts. These visions are placed in chronological order, but only one of them is strictly "a vision" (i.e. a waking dream), the rest being subjective, rather than objective pictures of future events. It is difficult to assign any of them to the reign of Jotham, except, perhaps, some of the burdens: but those of the reigns of Uzziah, Ahaz, and Hezekiah are marked by the writer himself. The first portion of the book relates chiefly to the Jewish nation and its enemies, with predictions about Assyria (then in its zenith), Babylon (in its infancy as a power), Moab, Egypt (the great rival of Assyria), Philistia, Syria, Edom, and Tyre (the great mercantile power), and a few historical chapters of Heze-kiah's reign. The second portion embraces a forecast of the whole period between the Captivity and the close of the Christian dispensation, the return from Babylon being used to prefigure the Advent of the Messiah and the redemption of the people. The prophecies regarding the Messiah's birth, passion, glory, rejection by the Jews, and acceptance by the Gentiles, are so exact as to have earned him the name of the "Gospel Prophet."

Peixcipal Subjects of Prophecy :—

I. The Captivities and Restoration of Judah and Israel (xxxix. 6, 7).

II. The ruin and desolation of Babylon, Tyre, Damascus, Egypt, &c. and the destruction of Syria and Israel (vii. 12; xlvii. 7,15). III. The conquests and conduct of Cyrus, who is mentioned by name, and his relieving the Jews, nearly 200 years before his birth (xliv. 28; xlvi. 1-5).

IV. Prophecies respecting the Messiah:—

1. His Forerunner (xl. 3).

2. His Birth (vii. 14).

3.  His Family (xi. 10).

4. His Name and Kingdom (ix. 6, 7).

5.  His Rejection by the Jews (viii. 14).

6.  His Acceptance by the Gentiles (xlix. 6).

7. His Miracles (xxxv. 5, 6).

Many eminent German critics, of the last and present century, have called in question the genuineness of the last twenty-seven chapters, on the ground that their standpoint is the Babylonish Captivity, from whence the author looks forward to succeeding events, and forewarns his people of what seems to be coming, and hence sketches out the career of the Messiah. They think it impossible for a prophet to mention Cyrus by name 200 years before his birth. The whole force of this objection rests upon a doubtful acceptance of prophetic inspiration. It has been ably refuted by other German critics. An excellent resume will be found in Keil-s Einleitung. It is difficult to imagine that such a writing at such an age should

have been issued anonymously, and it must be borne in mind, that the integrity of the whole book has been universally admitted by all Jews and Christians of former centuries. Moreover, since forty-seven of the sixty-six chapters are quoted, directly or indirectly, in the New Testament, and in twenty-one cases Isaiah is named as the author of the prophecy, it must be conceded that every objection is met by fact.